Denny Hecker, the ubiquitous Twin Cities businessman and car dealer, filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Minnesota on Thursday.
Hecker filed as an individual and not as Denny Hecker Family Holdings, the holding company under which his several enterprises operate.
Hecker listed estimated assets between $50 million and $100 million and estimated liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion. He also listed between 200 and 900 estimated creditors.
Filings have so far not listed the names of creditors or other financial details.
Since the economic downturn in October, Hecker and his companies have been mired in legal and financial woes. Hecker was recently ordered to pay Chrysler Financial Services Americas, LLC—the financial arm of Chrysler, LLC—$477 million for defaulting on several loans. He also lost a recent judgment to Ford Motor Company, which stated that Hecker failed to pay $3.1 million for vehicles and parts his dealerships had received.
Hecker has several pending lawsuits from lenders seeking repayment on loans.
As late as September, Hecker operated 26 car dealerships and currently operates only one. His rental car business, Advantage Rent A Car, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in late 2009 and was sold to Hertz Global Holdings, Inc., for $33 million in a bankruptcy auction this spring.
Denny Hecker Family Holdings was the second-largest private company in Minnesota based on revenue in its most recent fiscal year, which totaled $7.2 billion.
